Christopher R Rakestraw

Christopher “Topher” Ryan Rakestraw was born on August 9th, 1992, at Beale AFB in California to Scott and Francis Rakestraw. He became the instant best friend to his brother, Robert. For the first few years of his life, he grew up in Washington. Topher and Robert were mischievous from a young age, once almost setting fire to the house they lived in on base at Fort Lewis. In 1997, Topher’s second-best friend and first sister, Bethany, was born. In 1999, they moved to Oklahoma to be closer to his mom’s family. After a year in Oklahoma, his family moved to Elko, Nevada, to meet his newly found grandparents. In Elko, his baby sister Lorianne was born, rounding out the Rakestraw family. In 2001, his parents separated. His mom met and married James Sampley, and they had a baby boy, Dillan Sampley, in 2003. Scott met and married Toni Taylor, who brought a stepbrother, Christian Taylor, into the mix. After his mom passed away in 2004, Topher, Bethany, Robert, and Lorianne moved to Carlin with their dad.

After moving to Carlin, Topher attended Carlin Combined Schools from December 2004 until he graduated in 2011. He started off playing baseball when he first moved to Carlin but discovered a love for running long distances. In high school, Topher was involved in cross country, track, wrestling, and choir. His love for music was a huge part of his life. He and two friends formed a band and played their first gig at the Chili Cookoff in Carlin. Topher also had a passion for art, which extended to multiple mediums. He loved painting, drawing, and photography.

Topher was a huge fan of Star Wars. His love for Darth Maul once led his dad to sit through The Phantom Menace twice in a row. Topher could get a room going with his Chewbacca impressions and could have full conversations with his dad using only Star Wars quotes. Topher also loved the Harry Potter series. In school, he used to sign his papers as Harry Potter. His enthusiasm for the movies got his whole family involved in loving the series, and it became a tradition for all his family and extended family to go to the movies together as a large group to see any new releases.

On January 2nd, 2019, Topher went missing, and after a three-day search, he was found. Topher had died by suicide. His sparkling blue eyes are now but a memory, and his infectious laugh will only be heard in videos. He was the best friend to all his siblings and was loved by many. His job as a bartender made him an easy person to talk to, and after his death, many stories emerged about how much he helped others.

Christopher “Topher” Ryan Rakestraw 08/09/1992 – 01/02/2019